To the editor:

There’s no doubt about it; Kansans are experiencing tough times. Our economy is in shambles, gas prices are high, we are at war, and the Earth’s climate is in peril.

The solutions to these problems haven’t and won’t be easy. However, what is so striking about all these problems is they can be traced to a single source: our dependence on oil.

Our politicians have failed in offering a serious prescription to our addiction to oil. U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore and his Republican challenger, Nick Jordan, have allowed their agenda to be hijacked by the well-heeled polluters in the oil industry who are responsible for it.

The solution that has been thrown around is “drill baby drill.” Both Moore and Jordan have backed the idea of offshore drilling. The truth is, offshore drilling will not lower gas prices. This isn’t coming from me. According to the Bush administration’s own figures, more offshore drilling will have an insignificant impact on prices at the pump. With just 3 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves, and 25 percent of the world’s consumption, there’s no way we can drill our way to energy independence or lower gas prices.

The real solution is investing in renewable energy like wind and solar. We can longer stand to use archaic sources of energy like dirty coal and oil. America needs to once again establish itself as innovators. The time is now to create jobs, boost our economy and invest in serious solutions to global warming.

John Gawin,
Lawrence